


The Depth of Trust

by Musetotheworld



Series: General Danvers & Supercat Week 5 [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Established Relationship, F/F, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: Kara and Cat have been dating for 5 months, and things are getting serious between them. They just have to figure out how to take the next step forward.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Cat Grant
Series: General Danvers & Supercat Week 5 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966114
Comments: 11
Kudos: 98
Collections: General Danvers & Supercat Week 5





	The Depth of Trust

“Are you free this weekend?”

The question is simple, light, but Kara still freezes. Because it’s not as simple as it sounds.

She’s never been asked over on a weekend, not unless Carter was with his father. And rare as those weekends are, that means in the five months they’ve been dating, she’s been to Cat’s for the weekend  _ twice. _

This weekend, though, Kara knows Carter will be home. Which means Cat is finally taking a step to integrate both parts of her life, a step Kara’s been waiting for. She’d never push, but it’s nice to finally know Cat is comfortable enough with their relationship to take that step.

Knowing how protective Cat is, Kara’d half expected it to take years.

It’s worth waiting for, of course. Cat Grant is, well. Cat is wonderful, and kind, and caring enough for three people, for all that she hides it. True, she has her flaws. Kara’s personally experienced a number of those over the years. They can’t be overlooked. But beneath the flaws, walls, and the witty rejoinders designed to keep people at bay, Cat was one of the most caring people Kara had ever met. And after five months together, Kara’s a lot closer to a certain four-letter word than is probably wise.

Rao, she’d even considered telling Cat the truth about her identity. Dozens of times so far, and it gets harder to avoid it every time. But a decade of secrecy isn’t shaken off easily, and until Kara has some tangible proof that this is more than just a fleeting relationship, she can’t risk it. No matter how much it hurts.

Cat clears her throat, and Kara realizes she’d taken a little too long to answer. Long enough Cat looks worried.

“I don’t have anything planned so far. I was probably going to work on a new painting if I got a chance.” Really, with Alex out of town and crime in the city down to nothing, Kara’d expected a very boring weekend. Which would be nice the first day, but she always got antsy by the second.

Cat smiles, that softer one Kara always loves to see. The one that only started appearing after their second month together. There are other signs that their relationship is going well, but that smile is Kara’s favorite.

“Well, if you don’t have plans, I thought you might like to join Carter and me on Saturday. He’s almost 13 and more than responsible enough to have his own Pokemon partner. We were going to visit the nursery, and he wanted to invite you along.”

***

Cat’s puzzled at Kara’s strange reaction to the simple invitation. First, she’d gone pale, then she’d stammered out something about forgetting she had a sister night with Alex planned. Then she’d all but bolted from the room.

And Cat has no idea what could have caused  _ any  _ of that.

She knows Kara’s been hoping for an invitation like this for months now, and it’s only been Cat’s reluctance to move too quickly that held them back. Because as much as Cat already cares for Kara, as much as she can see Kara cares for her, there are long-standing issues in her past. Issues that make anything beyond a casual fling terrifying to consider.

This was supposed to be their first step past those issues. It seemed perfect. With Carter as a buffer, Cat wouldn’t fall back into her more cutting personality traits as a coping mechanism out of fear of opening up. He always did soften her edges, even when she’s in trying situations. No matter how hard Cat tried with Kara, she couldn’t always guarantee the same. She’s working on it.

But besides that, Cat knows if she wants Kara to be part of her life, that means she has to be part of Carter’s life too. There’s little risk they won’t get along, not with how happy Carter is when they see each other, but the fear is always there. So starting small is perfect.

Picking out your first Pokemon companion was always an interesting time, often teaching you about yourself in a way you couldn’t understand before. That’s why most children wait until their teens for a real Pokemon buddy, instead of the family Pokemon. You could wait longer, of course, but 13 was the most common age. And with Carter’s birthday in a month, the outing seemed perfect.

At least, that’s what she’d thought until actually asking Kara to accompany them. The stuttering denials were strange, straight from Kara’s first months as her assistant. Not something Cat’s seen in years, and definitely not since they started dating. What on Earth could have caused Kara to revert back to behavior from five years ago?

Frowning, Cat flips open her calendar. She doesn’t use it often herself, relying on the reminders to direct her and her assistants to keep it updated. She knows Kara still has a hand in keeping it up to Cat’s standards, which means there’s a side effect Kara might not realize.

By sharing the calendar with herself, Kara’d shared her calendar with Cat.

It’s not something Cat takes advantage of often, preferring to respect Kara’s privacy. She doesn’t read the entries and doesn’t check the color coding for suspicious meetings hidden as innocuous. Not the way she’d had to with her second husband when he started cheating on her. No, on the rare occasions Cat checked Kara’s schedule, she barely glanced at the thing, and only long enough to make sure there were no conflicts before proposing a date night.

But this time, she’s pretty sure she remembers Kara saying Alex was out of town for a few weeks, and she knows Kara always keeps careful track of sister nights on her calendar. They’re important to her, and Cat knows that. Would never try to push for that time, not knowing how much Kara depended on her sister. After knowing Kara for years and dating her for months, Cat is well aware of how close they are.

A quick glance at the calendar, all Cat will allow herself despite now burning levels of curiosity, shows exactly what she remembered. Nothing on the schedule for the entire weekend, both days a stark white of nothing planned. Certainly no carefully blocked off time for a sister night.

And more than that, Cat hadn’t even told Kara when they were planning to visit the nursery. Between the blank calendar and the mysterious excuse, Cat is puzzled. And she doesn’t like being puzzled. And as for being turned down? Well, the less said about that, the better.

Odd. Very, very odd.

Her first instinct is to push, to storm after Kara and demand an explanation. Carter surely deserves one, if nothing else.

But her second impulse, the new one that comes from a deep sense of caring for Kara’s happiness, that one says to wait. To give Kara a chance to recover from whatever fright she’d had. And  _ then  _ they can talk.

***

After she leaves Cat’s office, Kara heads for the roof and the skies. She needs to fly for a bit, needs to clear her mind. Low crime rates or no, maybe a quick patrol will help. Flying usually does.

But once she’s up in the air, Kara notices again how the bird pokemon soaring the skies will avoid her. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, but it’s the first time in a long time Kara hasn’t been able to ignore it.

Kara loves her powers, she does. And she loves being Kryptonian. Krypton was her home, even after almost two decades on Earth. It was part of her very being, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. But sometimes, well, sometimes it’s very inconvenient. And sometimes it just hurts.

On a world where humans and pokemon interacted as easily as breathing, Kara was adrift from that connection. Pokemon couldn’t sense her the way they could humans, and so they were unusually wary of her. No matter how friendly Kara might be, no matter how many berries she offered, she couldn’t bridge the gap.

It’s why she can’t go with Carter to find his Pokemon. Those first moments of meeting a Pokemon were too important to risk. With Kara along to make every Pokemon in the nursery on edge, there’s no way Carter could find the right match. They’d all be too nervous to relax and bond with him.

Kara won’t do that to him.

She already knows it’s going to hurt the first time Carter introduces her to his new buddy. She’s somehow managed to avoid Cat’s Pokemon on her nights over, but that’s been mostly luck. There was no need to introduce them specifically after she started dating Cat, not after Kara’d seen Chione at CatCo often enough. And with their relationship still in the ‘new and exciting’ phase, there wasn’t  _ time  _ to make introductions before Kara had to leave.

She won’t get that lucky with Carter. He’ll be so excited, and then…

Oh, what is she going to do? How is she going to fix this? Alex would know, but Alex isn’t here. She’s out of town on some spying mission, one Kara  _ cannot  _ interrupt. That was stressed to her several times, no matter how she protested. At least J’onn is with her, and Kara will grudgingly admit he’s better at covert work than she is. But that doesn’t change the fact Kara needs her sister right now.

Without her, Kara doesn’t have anyone else she can ask. Not about this.

“Why does this have to be so hard?” Kara asks the wary Pokemon in the distance. “What if I don’t have the right answer?”

They have no response, and Kara sighs before heading back down. She didn’t really think they would. And really, she already knows what has to happen now.

She has to trust Cat.

That’s the one thing she knows for sure right now, and so that’s what she’s going to do. She has to tell Cat the truth. Alex might not like it, but Kara’s been waiting long enough already. Cat deserves the truth, no matter how many times Kara’s cautioned to keep her identity a secret. 

That decided, Kara’s a lot calmer when she lands. She’ll go find Cat and explain, and Cat will understand why she can’t come this weekend. And then, well, they’ll go from there.

***

Cat checks the clock as Kara comes back, vaguely surprised it didn’t take longer. Barely half an hour had passed, not the three hours Cat had blocked off. Well then, she doesn’t have to be patient after all. Those days are always fun.

Pushing down long habit that tells Cat to make Kara work for it, as Kara pushes open the door, Cat stands and waves towards the balcony. That bit of distance always helps them relax. There are no prying eyes to spy on them, no employees around to make Cat keep her CEO mask on. They can be themselves.

“Is everything okay?” Cat asks as the door closes behind them, keeping her voice level. She might be confused and want answers, but she won’t get them if she pushes too hard. They need to talk to each other, not fall back into old dynamics where Cat demands and Kara conceded.

Kara looks sheepish, but not upset. A good start, to be sure. “I um, I needed to think. And then I realized I wasn’t going to find answers by myself, and even if I did, you deserve those answers too. So I came back.”

Well, that sounds serious. Far more than Cat anticipated.

Not sure where to go with that, at least without pushing far beyond what she should, Cat stays silent. At least for now, this is Kara’s turn to speak and explain, and Cat’s turn to support her. It’s time to put all those lessons in patience to the test.

“I don’t actually have a sister night this weekend, Alex is out of town.” The first confession stings, but Cat understands. Kara wasn’t trying to lie as much as, well, hide the truth. Probably an instinctive cover story to buy some times, and one Cat really shouldn’t blame her for. Not like she would anyone else.

Kara continues when Cat just nods, looking relieved her lie won’t cause an argument on its own. But then, she knows Cat’s temper as well as anyone.

“But I also don’t think I can come with you this weekend. I don’t think I  _ should _ .”

“Is it too fast?” Cat asks quietly, knowing the request does represent a major step between them. She’d thought it was a good first step towards something more, but if Kara disagrees, well. They can find something else.

“No, no, it’s a great step.” Now Kara isn’t making sense, and a little of Cat’s irritation must show around her confusion because Kara takes a deep breath before continuing. “Do you have Chione with you today?”

Cat nods, pulling the Pokeball from her pocket as she wonders what her Pokemon has to do with anything. Kara’s met Chione before, several times in fact. 

At Kara’s direction, Cat lets Chione out of the ball, near the doorway inside. She might not know what’s going on here, but she trusts Kara.

Chione stretches the way she always does when Cat lets her out, a shimmer of ice crystals dropping from her tails as she adjusts. Watching for whatever Kara expects her to see, Cat’s still surprised when Chione turns and startles to see Kara standing there. The Ninetales  _ always _ knew who was around when she’s out of the ball. It’s one of the main reasons Cat chose her for a personal Pokemon, back when Carter was just learning to walk. 

And yet, she’d somehow missed Kara standing there entirely. Not only missed her but is still watching her warily, the way she only did with strangers in the park who got too close to Carter. Not the way she reacts to Cat’s employees while they’re at CatCo.

“Now imagine every Pokemon in the nursery acting like that this weekend,” Kara says sadly, staying carefully away from Chione. “Carter would never manage to find the perfect buddy while I was there. And I can’t do that to him.”

With a reassuring hum to Chione before calling her back to the Pokeball, Cat turns to Kara. “Every Pokemon?”

With a nod and a grin that looks more painful than amused, Kara explains. “The bond between humans and Pokemon is a wonderful thing. Pokemon have this awareness of humans that not only allows a bond to form between trainer and Pokemon but also makes certain species great for health and rescue fields. But I don’t,  _ they _ don’t sense me that way.”

“Because you’re not human.”

Oh, Cat’s had her suspicions over the years. Kara and Supergirl look too alike to let her entirely dismiss them. But she’s also seen Supergirl and Kara in the same room, several times. She’s spoken to both of them, and she’s seen news reports of Supergirl out patrolling while she knows where Kara is, because they’re spending the evening together.

So she’d pushed the suspicions down. If there was something to them, Kara would tell her eventually. And now, here eventually is.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Kara starts, but Cat cuts her off.

“I am not entitled to every secret you have, Kara. I want you to feel safe enough to trust me with them, but they are yours to share. I will not treat you like some corrupt politician I have a duty to expose.”

She might have, once. Back when she was still at the Daily Planet, still desperate to make a name for herself. But she’d learned the lesson about what secrets need told and which need hidden too well during her years there. And this was not a secret she could demand to know.

Cat tries very hard not to be hurt by the flash of relief on Kara’s face, knowing what a secret like that must be like. It wasn’t just private; it was a facet of who she is, and sharing it now goes beyond trust and into faith. She’s not entirely successful, but it’s enough to keep it from her face.

“I- thank you, Cat.” The quiet sincerity in Kara’s voice is enough to soothe the last of the hurt, and Cat steps forward to Kara’s side. She might understand why Kara can’t make it, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options.

“What if you come over Friday night for dinner? You can stay Saturday morning until it’s time for me to take Carter to the nursery.”

Kara nods before leaning down to kiss Cat, deep and slow. They’ll figure something out with Kara and their Pokemon if she’ll be around more, and if they can’t fix things, then they’ll adapt.

No one said relationships would be easy, but Cat’s not interested in easy.

Life is too boring that way.

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be longer, but I've had the worst headache the past few nights, so I got it to a stopping point and called it good. Might be a chapter 2 at some point though. Maybe.


End file.
